Contact spacing among astrocytes in the central nervous system: An hypothesis of their structural role

Astrocytes are found throughout the central nervous system. They interact closely with surrounding structures, their processes contributing to the glia limitans of the neural tube, and to the glial investment of blood vessels, and of the somas, axons, and synaptic structures of neurones. This paper presents evidence that astrocytes in the central nervous system also interact with each other in a dual way, adhering to their neighbours via their processes, and repelling the somas of those neighbours. We suggest that this interaction, which has been termed contact spacing, distributes astrocytes through the central nervous system, and forms the basis of their structural role.

[1]  Jonathan Stone,et al.  Factors determining the morphology and distribution of astrocytes in the cat retina: A ‘contact‐spacing’ model of astrocyte interaction , 1991, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[2]  D. S. Williams,et al.  Cytoskeletal components of the adherens junctions between the photoreceptors and the supportive müller cells , 1990, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[3]  V. Ling,et al.  Multidrug resistance in cancer. , 1989, Scientific American.

[4]  Z. Dreher,et al.  Müller cell endfeet at the inner surface of the retina: light microscopy , 1988, Visual Neuroscience.

[5]  F. Benes,et al.  The spatial distribution of neurons and glia in human cortex based on the poisson distribution. , 1987, Analytical and quantitative cytology and histology.

[6]  H. Wässle,et al.  Immunocytochemical studies on astroglia of the cat retina under normal and pathological conditions , 1986, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[7]  K. M. Heilman.  Cerebral Dominance—The Biological Foundations , 1986, Neurology.

[8]  P. Rakic.  Neuronal-glial interaction during brain development , 1981, Trends in Neurosciences.

[9]  V. Tennyson.  The Fine Structure of the Nervous System. , 1970 .

[10]  Elizabeth K. Koenig,et al.  Rudolf Virchow, Doctor, Statesman, Anthropologist , 1955 .

[11]  A. Reichenbach.  Glia:Neuron index: Review and hypothesis to account for different values in various mammals , 1989, Glia.

[12]  G. Somjen.  Nervenkitt: Notes on the history of the concept of neuroglia , 1988, Glia.

[13]  J. Schnitzer.  Chapter 7 Astrocytes in mammalian retina , 1988 .

[14]  J. Stone,et al.  Relationship between astrocytes, ganglion cells and vasculature of the retina , 1987, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[15]  E. Mugnaini.  CELL JUNCTIONS OF ASTROCYTES, EPENDYMA, AND RELATED CELLS IN THE MAMMALIAN CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, WITH EMPHASIS ON THE HYPOTHESIS OF A GENERALIZED FUNCTIONAL SYNCYTIUM OF SUPPORTING CELLS , 1986 .